Steven H. Holtzman to Serve as Executive Chair of the Board of
Directors in Accordance With Existing Succession Plan
Transition Strategically Positions Infinity for the Future
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 7, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:INFI) today announced that Adelene Q. Perkins will become the company's President and Chief Executive Officer, and join the company's Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2010 in accordance with an existing management succession plan. Steven H. Holtzman, Infinity's founder, and current Chair and Chief Executive Officer, will continue full-time involvement with the company as Executive Chair of its Board of Directors.
Ms. Perkins has over 25 years of international business and corporate strategy experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, focused on licensing and business development, strategic finance, product life cycle management, and leading high-caliber, cross-functional teams. Since joining Infinity in 2002, she has played an integral role in developing Infinity's strategic plan, leading the company in its transition from a platform to a product-based organization. She has also been the principal figure in structuring, executing and managing all of Infinity's innovative strategic relationships, including its global alliance with Purdue Pharmaceutical Products L.P. and Mundipharma International Corporation Ltd.
"Adelene is a highly skilled businessperson and an exceptional leader," said Steven H. Holtzman, Infinity's Chair and current Chief Executive Officer. "It is because of her vision and tenacity that Infinity is both strong today and positioned beautifully for the future, with a solid cash position and U.S. commercial rights to our entire oncology portfolio. Adelene is the ideal person to lead Infinity in our next phase of growth. It will be a pleasure and privilege to continue working together as we strive to achieve Infinity's mission of sustainably bringing meaningful new medicines to patients."
Mr. Holtzman has been the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Infinity since its founding in 2001. As Executive Chair, Mr. Holtzman will remain actively involved in Infinity's major strategic initiatives, while also playing a key role in external relations and the company's internal leadership development programs.
"This management succession marks the culmination of a process initiated several years ago by Steve, working with Adelene and Julian Adams, to optimize Infinity's long-term leadership structure," said Anthony B. Evnin, Ph.D., Infinity's Lead Outside Director and Chair of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee of Infinity's Board of Directors. "The Board is very confident in Adelene's ability to lead Infinity through the next stage of its evolution, including the late phase development and commercialization of our products."
"Infinity's two lead programs, directed to inhibition of the Hsp90 chaperone system and the Hedgehog pathway, represent some of the most exciting areas in cancer research. Our drug candidates in these programs hold great promise for patients with some of the most underserved and devastating cancers," said Ms. Perkins. "With a commitment to sustainability, we have also maintained a robust preclinical and discovery pipeline and anticipate entering the clinic with our novel FAAH inhibitor early in 2010. I am honored to lead Infinity at this exciting and important time in our history with Steve's continued counsel, Julian's scientific inspiration, an accomplished leadership team and a remarkable community of Citizen-Owners who provide the foundation for our future."
Ms. Perkins currently serves as Infinity's President and Chief Business Officer. In this capacity, she has executive responsibility for all of Infinity's corporate and business functions, including corporate, product and business development, commercial affairs, corporate communications, finance, human resources, and legal affairs. More recently, Ms. Perkins has led an initiative to establish the company's strategic commercial vision and objectives.
Prior to joining Infinity, Ms. Perkins served as Vice President of Business and Corporate Development at TransForm Pharmaceuticals. Prior to TransForm, she was Vice President of Emerging Businesses and the cofounder and General Manager of the DiscoverEase(tm) Business Unit at Genetics Institute. Ms. Perkins began her career at Bain & Company, an international strategy consulting firm, where she provided strategic and operational advice to clients in the healthcare industry. She holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University. Ms. Perkins was recently named a 2009 "Best Executive" by the Stevies Awards for Women.
About Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Infinity is an innovative cancer drug discovery and development company seeking to discover, develop, and deliver to patients best-in-class medicines for the treatment of cancer and related conditions. Infinity combines proven scientific expertise with a passion for developing novel small molecule drugs that target emerging cancer pathways. Infinity's two most advanced programs in Hsp90 chaperone inhibition and Hedgehog signaling pathway inhibition are evidence of its innovative approach to oncology drug discovery and development. For more information on Infinity, please refer to the company's website at http://www.infi.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, including those related to the progression of Infinity's product candidates into late-stage development and the commencement of clinical trials of its FAAH inhibitor, involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to numerous factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from the company's current expectations. For example, there can be no guarantee that any of Infinity's product candidates will successfully complete necessary preclinical and clinical development phases or that the company's strategic alliance with Purdue Pharma and Mundipharma will continue as planned. In particular, management's expectations could be affected by risks and uncertainties relating to: results of clinical trials and preclinical studies, including subsequent analysis of existing data and new data received from ongoing and future studies; the content and timing of decisions made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities and investigational review boards at clinical trial sites; Infinity's ability to enroll patients in its clinical trials; unplanned cash requirements and expenditures; and Infinity's ability to obtain, maintain and enforce patent and other intellectual property protection for any product candidates it is developing. These and other risks which may impact management's expectations are described in greater detail under the caption "Risk Factors" included in Infinity's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 9, 2009. Further, any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Infinity expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.